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Upgrading to a 5450


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#1
Windows 95

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Current system specs:

Pentium 4 3.0GHZ HT (Prescott 2M)
1GB DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon X300 128MB
Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM ATA hard drive.
Windows XP Home SP3 32-Bit.
Dell 1905FP monitor

I only play games like Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty 2 (Games older then 2005) on 1280x1024, I was wondering if the ATI 5450 would be a good upgrade from a 6 year old ATI X300. I can run the games now, but on low settings. I would like to play on higher settings. Would this card allow me to do that? It's only like $40.

This is the one I was looking at: http://www.newegg.co...5-314-_-Product
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#2
SpywareDr

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Yes, it would be a step up.

Tom's Hardware > Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart
http://www.tomshardw...670,2935-7.html

Edited by SpywareDr, 29 May 2011 - 12:05 PM.

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#3
phillpower2

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Hi Windows 95
It will be a lot better than your present card but not Crysis at max settings standard.
I`ve just been checking what the PSU requirements are for the ATI 5450 and it appears
that 300W or more will run the card ok, is your PSU capable of 300W or more?
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#4
Windows 95

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I looked and it said it was a 305 watt power supply. There's nothing else in any of the other PCI slots to draw any power from. Everything else like network and audio is in the motherboard. So I think it should be fine, yes?
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#5
phillpower2

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I was dubious about what I read earlier so I have done some further research into your proposed purchase and I am glad I did, unfortunately your present PSU will not power the 5450, see the screenshot from the Gigabyte site confirming this;

Edited by phillpower2, 29 May 2011 - 12:56 PM.

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#6
Windows 95

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I just did on research and it shows that the 5450 only draws about 19 watts of power max. Also from what I read, it will run on a 250 watt power supply. So it seems all is well.
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#7
SpywareDr

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Gigabyte.com > GV-R545OC-512I > Specification
http://www.gigabyte....spx?pid=3335#sp

Power requirement - 400 W


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#8
phillpower2

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Sorry Windows 95 but all the available (reliable) information states that a 400W PSU is required,
anything less will trash your system.
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#9
SpywareDr

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anything less will trash your system.

Oh Cool! Can I watch? :unsure: :)
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#10
iammykyl

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Is this Grampa's old rig that you posted about and were thinking of upgrading parts?
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#11
Troy

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Just to clear this up, the graphics card may run just fine on your current Power Supply. It is a budget card and it does not draw much power. I have used this in a number of builds with nothing less than an Antec EarthWatts 380W PSU (which is the absolute minimum I will use, and very good to boot). Or it may not run correctly and cause problems. And if it absolutely trashes your system, I would like to see this too. But as a recommended course of action, you should upgrade your Power Supply to a quality 400W unit.

Good articles about cheap PSU dangers here:

http://www.tomshardw...upply,2862.html


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